• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.163-175
• /
• 2008

Purpose: This study aimed to define the relationship among self-care, symptom experiences, and health-related quality of life(HRQoL) according to the severity of disease in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) patients. Methods: The participants, 195 COPD patients, were recruited at a pulmonology clinic of a universityaffiliated medical center in B metropolitan city. Inclusion criteria were patients who were diagnosed as COPD and had less than 0.7 of $FEV_1$/FVC(Forced Expiratory Volume for 1 second/Forced Vital Capacity) ratio. The severity was classified with GOLD(Global initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease) stages, $FEV_1%$ predicted value from mild to very severe. The data were gathered by the medical records and self-reported questionnaires. Results: The self-care, symptom experience, and HRQoL were all significantly different by COPD severity based on pulmonary function(p<.05). There were significant moderate negative relationships between symptom experiences and self-care(r=-.54, p<.001) and between symptom experiences and HRQoL(r=-.64, p<.001). There was a moderate positive correlation between self-care and HRQoL(r=.63, p<.001). Conclusion: It suggests that the assessment of disease severity based on pulmonary function and subjective symptom experience in patients with COPD may be a key component to develop a tailored self-management program and to improve their quality of life.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.27-40
• /
• 1985

Two-hundred fifty specimens of Discomycetes were collected, for the most part, at Gwangneung, Mt. Deokyu, Mt. Seulak, Mt. Sungsu, Mt. Paldal, from March, 1982 to July, 1984. These Discomycetes were identified and classified into 2 orders, 9 families, 18 genera and 23 species. Among them, Helvella pezizoides Afz. ex Fr., Peziza celtica (Boud.) Moser, Humaria hemisphaerica (Wiggers ex Fr.) Fuckel, Trichophaea gregaria (Rehm) Boud., Trichoglossum walteri(Berk.) Durand, Spathularia flavida Pers. ex Fr., Arachnopeziza aurelia (Pers. ex Fr.) Fuckel, Rutstroemia americana (Durand) White, Rutstroemia macrospora (Peck) Kanouse apud Wehmeyer forma gigaspora Korf, Ascocoryne cylichnium (Tul.) Korf, Bisporella citrina (Batsch. ex Fr.) Korf et Carpenter, Chlorosplenium chlora (Schw. ex Fr.) Curtis, Chlorociboria aeruginascens (Nyl.) Kanouse ex Ramamurthi, Korf et Batra subsp. aeruginascens, Hymenoscyphus scutula (Pers. ex Fr.) Phillips, Cyathicula cyathoidea (Bull. ex Fr.) de Thumen were new records in Korea. These species are described and their Korean names are designated.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.48-59
• /
• 2018

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the effect of active nutrition care on feeding and nutritional status of elderly patients receiving long-term enteral tube feeding. Methods: Subjects included 77 elderly patients who had received enteral nutrition more than one week before admission. Nutrition care was provided to patients supplied less calories than required. Feeding intolerance was examined and managed every day and formula was adjusted to meet nutritional requirement during the first 3 months after admission. Patients were classified into under or over 80% of percent ideal body weight (PIBW) and medical records were used to compare changes in weight,, biochemical indices, and nutritional status during the study. Results: Weight, BMI, triglyceride and total cholesterol in blood, hemoglobin, and hematocrit levels were significantly lower in patients under 80% of the PIBW than in those over 80% of the PIBW at admission. The percentage of supply to required calories was also lower in patients under 80% of the PIBW. After 1 month of nutritional care, supplied volume of formula was significantly increased in patients under 80% of the PIBW. Weight, BMI, and PIBW were increased and there were no differences between groups after 6 months. In addition, the concentrations of triglyceride and total cholesterol in blood, hemoglobin, and hematocrit tended to increase in patients under 80% of the PIBW, leading to no difference between groups after 3 months. Conclusions: Personalized active nutrition care is effective to increase weight and improve feeding and nutritional status in underweight elderly patients receiving long-term enteral nutrition.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.58 no.11
• /
• pp.446-450
• /
• 2015

Purpose: Meningitis is among the most common infections affecting the central nervous system. It can be difficult to determine the exact pathogen responsible for the infection and patients are often treated with empiric antibiotics. This study was conducted to identify the most common clinical characteristics of enteroviral meningitis in children and evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for early detection of an enterovirus. Methods: We analyzed the medical records of children admitted to Korea University Medical Center and diagnosed with meningitis on the basis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and RT-PCR from CSF and other samples from January 2010 to August 2013. Results: A total of 333 patients were enrolled and classified into four groups based on diagnosis: enteroviral meningitis (n=110), bacterial meningitis (n=23), other viral meningitis (n=36), and unknown etiology (n=164). Patients with bacterial meningitis were younger than those in the other groups (P<0.001). Pleocytosis in CSF was similar across all groups. Of patients in the enteroviral meningitis group, 92.7% were diagnosed based on RT-PCR findings. Mean length of hospital stay for patients with enteroviral meningitis was 6.08 days, which was significantly shorter than that for patients with meningitis of bacterial etiology (19.73 days, P<0.001). Conclusion: Diagnosis of enteroviral meningitis before viral culture results are available is possible using RT-PCR. Accurate diagnosis reduces the length of hospital stay and helps to avoid unnecessary empiric antibiotic treatment.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.42-56
• /
• 2003

Background : The purpose of this study is to investigate the influencing factors on the length of emergency department stay of patients with acute myocardial infraction. Methods : we reviewed medical records of all patients who were Hospitalized with acute myocardial infraction from March 1, 2002 to February 28, 2003. Results : The average length of stay in the emergency room of the subjects was 182.74 minutes. After the emergency room treatment, 48.1% of the subjects were transferred to intensive care unit. The hospitalization through emergency room mostly took place in the office hours. There were more patients on Monday. The influencing factors on the length of stay in the emergency room of patients with acute myocardial infraction were emergency room arrival time which was classified in seasons, treatment hours of specialized doctors, medical care insurance and required time of radiologic examination. Conclusion : In order to reduce the length of emergency room stay, it might be an available solution secure enough spaces, facility, and staff of the radiologic test only for the patients of the emergency room. And the effective use of emergency facility and space, establishment of standardized treatment guideline, and provision of emergency treatment support system are also needed.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.108-115
• /
• 2009

Purpose: We designed a retrospective study to measure the accuracy of the ICD-10 (International Classification of Disease-10) code for trauma patients. We also analyzed the error of the ICISS (International Classification of Disease based Injury Severity Score) due to a missing or an incorrect ICD-10 code. Methods: For the measuring the accuracy of the ICD-10 code for trauma patients in a tertiary teaching hospital's emergency department, two board certified emergency physician performed a retrospective chart review. The ICD-10 code was classified as a main code or a sub-code. The main code was defined as the code of the main department of treatment, and the sub-code was defined as a code other than the main code. We calculated and compared two ICISS for each patient one by using both the existing code and the other by using a corrected code. We compared the proportions of severe trauma (defined as an ICISS less than 0.9) between when the existing code and the corrected code was used respectively. Results: We reviewed the records of 4287 trauma patients who had been treated from July 2008 to November 2008. The accuracy of the main code, the sub-code of emergency department, main-code, the sub-code of hospitalized patients were 97.1%, 59.8%, 98.2% and 57.0%, respectively. Total accuracy of the main and sub-code of emergency department and of hospitalized patients were 91.4% and 58.6%. The number of severe trauma patients increased from 33 to 49 when the corrected code was used in emergency department and increased from 35 to 60 in hospitalized patients. Conclusion: The accuracy of the sub-code was lower than that of the main code. A missing or incorrect subcode could cause an error in the ICISS and in the number of patients with severe trauma.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.243-250
• /
• 2009

Objectives : The purposes of this study is to estimate the cost of cancer care after its diagnosis and to identify factors that can influence the cost of cancer care. Methods : The study subjects were patients with an initial diagnosis one of four selected tumors and had their first two-years of cancer care at a national cancer center. The data were obtained from medical records and patient surveys. We classified cancer care costs into medical and nonmedical costs, and each cost was analyzed for burden type, medical service, and cancer stage according to cancer types. Factors affecting cancer care costs for the initial phase included demographic variables, socioeconomic status and clinical variables. Results : Cancer care costs for the initial year following diagnosis were higher than the costs for the following successive year after diagnosis. Lung cancer (25,648,000 won) had higher costs than the other three cancer types. Of the total costs, patent burden was more than 50% and medical costs accounted for more than 60%. Inpatient costs accounted for more than 60% of the medical costs for stomach and liver cancer in the initial phase. Care for latestage cancer was more expensive than care for early-stage cancer. Nonmedical costs were estimated to be between 4,500,000 to 6,000,000 won with expenses for the caregiver being the highest. The factors affecting cancer care costs were treatment type and cancer stage. Conclusions : The cancer care costs after diagnosis are substantial and vary by cancer site, cancer stage and treatment type. It is useful for policy makers and researchers to identify tumor-specific medical and nonmedical costs. The effort to reduce cancer costs and early detection for cancer can reduce the burden to society and improve quality of life for the cancer patients.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.45-52
• /
• 2016

The employment rate of a college has long been one of the most important elements in college survival strategies. Employment rates may not be key to colleges' survival in other countries, but they are fundamental to colleges in Korea as seen in the Korean government-led National Competency Standard (NCS), which has been underway since its introduction to colleges in Korea. Against this backdrop, if the engineering accreditation system can contribute to improving employment rate in this context, it can take root more quickly. The process conducive to improving employment rates can be classified as both direct and indirect methods. With dwindling school-age population having impacts on colleges and universities, the environment and the education directions of colleges have rapidly been shifting since the introduction of the NCS. Therefore, various survival strategies for colleges need to be developed. An indicator of employment rate of college graduates is among the most important things during this transition process. The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Koje College has consistently shown good records during the past 5 years by matching the accreditation schemes and employment strategies. The department will help put in place the engineering technology education accreditation system at the college through its various innovative and effective programs. To formulate a better employment strategy, it is needed to reflect and consolidate the engineering accreditation scheme into the existing employment policy of college. In short, this paper examines both the engineering accreditation scheme and the employment policy in ways that helps produce a coupling matrix structure. This study looks into the measures for improving employment rates by better adjusting the engineering education methods under the accreditation scheme.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.420-430
• /
• 2017

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore characteristics of and risk factors for accidental inpatient falls. Methods: Participants were classified as fallers or non-fallers based on the fall history of inpatients in a tertiary hospital in Seoul between June 2014 and May 2015. Data on falls were obtained from the fall report forms and data on risk factors were obtained from the electronic nursing records. Characteristics of fallers and non-fallers were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Risk factors for falls were identified using univariate analyses and logistic regression analysis. Results: Average length of stay prior to the fall was 21.52 days and average age of fallers was 61.37 years. Most falls occurred during the night shifts and in the bedroom and were due to sudden leg weakness during ambulation. It was found that gender, BMI, physical problems such elimination, gait, vision and hearing and medications such as sleeping pills, antiarrhythmics, vasodilators, and muscle relaxant were statistically significant factors affecting falls. Conclusion: The findings show that there are significant risk factors such as BMI and history of surgery which are not part of fall assessment tools. There are also items on fall assessment tools which are not found to be significant such as mental status, emotional unstability, dizziness, and impairment of urination. Therefore, these various risk factors should be examined in the fall risk assessments and these risk factors should be considered in the development of fall assessment tools.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.109-113
• /
• 2010

Objectives: Liver function tests are used as screening tests for liver injuries, but their inaccuracy on positive predictive values can result in numerous false positive results. We investigated the incidence of liver function test abnormalities of patients who came to an oriental medicine hospital, in order to present a practical way to rule out false positive results for other studies designed to investigate the safety of Korean herb medicine. Methods: We analyzed the medical records and liver function test results proceeded at admission of all in-patients admitted to Jaseng Oriental Medicine Hospital, from July 2008 to June 2009. Results: Among 1,117 inpatients, 941 executed liver function tests on admission, and 40 were excluded due to their diagnosed liver disease. 747 (82.9%) of 901 enrolled patients were within the normal range of all liver function tests, and 140 (15.5%) and 14 (1.6%) were classified as "abnormalities of liver tests" and "liver injury" respectively, according to the CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) criteria. Conclusions: According to the results, among the outcomes of liver function tests proceeded among the patients admitted to the oriental medicine hospital, excluding who were diagnosed with liver disease, 17.1% showed abnormality. This means simple liver function test results are not sufficient in determining liver toxicity of Korean herb medicine (KHM).